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Tag: retain customers

There is a saying in the business world which goes: “a happy customer is a loyal customer“, and customer loyalty is highly sought after. Numerous studies have shown that increasing customer retention rates by a mere 5% can increase profits by up to 95%, and the cost of keeping a customer loyal is only about 10% of the cost needed to bring in a new customer. Putting together a good retention plan will increase your company’s profits while simultaneously reducing its costs. (Guest Post)

In today’s world the market is flooded by numerous companies and the customer is likely to be well informed and know where he can get the most bang for his buck. This is where you need to step in, make sure he chooses your company, and is satisfied with the result.

For those of you who watch ‘Mad Men’, there’s no need to introduce Don Draper (Jon Hamm) – a creative director at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency. In case you somehow managed to miss this brilliant TV series, this movie clip is for you.

This clip demonstrates effective objection handling at its best.

When Draper’s prospects are questionings his sales team’s pitch, he flips the conversation back on them and why they are not the top company in their industry. He then reminds them that they came to his firm looking for help becoming the number one company and if they are not open to his ideas, he is not interested in serving them.

Being effective and productive in our work is something we’re all constantly trying to achieve. It will lead to better results which can lead to grater revenue/salary. And after all, we’re mostly going to work in order to earn money.

When it comes to sales process, being effective and productive is even more important. Getting your entire sales team synced and working together on making the sales process more effective, will result in increased revenue, better results and happier team.
When when your sales team in happy and productive, they will sell more and help your company grow.

According to Wikipedia it’s a part of a sales process:“A sales process describes the individual steps salespeople take from initial contact with a potential customer, or prospect, to qualifying that prospect into a lead, and further validating that lead into a sales opportunity followed through the different stages until closed. All sales opportunities arranged along each of the sales steps that make up your sales process is what the sales pipeline represents.”

Ok. So what is a “Weighted Pipeline” or “Weighted target“?

“The weighted target is equal to the sum of the total opportunity values in each sales step multiplied by the probability of closure for that step.” – David Brock.

In other words, you should have 3 times more active opportunities in your pipeline than your actual sales goal. These are all fancy terms but let’s bring it back down to reality for a sec.

When working as a sales person, one of the requirements is to be able to pick up the phone and call potential customers. For some it comes very natural, and others will have to work very hard in order to conduct successful sales calls.

Either way, calling a prospect is a skill which can be developed and improved. It’s just like a muscle, the more you work on it, the more you practice, the better you get at it. The fear of rejection is what prevents most people from picking up the phone. Naturally, not too many people are able to put themselves in a position to be rejected. However, those who do, will be rewarded in the long run for the temporary uncomfortable situation.

With proper fine-tuning, you’ll soon find your calls being well received and you’ll experience fewer rejections. The post below will review 5 tips which will help you conduct successful sales calls. Give them a try on your next calls, who knows, you might find yourself enjoying it 😉

A few weeks ago we shared a blog post with a short scene from the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street”. I got some responses saying that this movie sheds a bad light on salespeople’s Behavior and perception.
Regardless of your feelings on the movie, I think there is more to it than just greed and the chase after money. And after all, at the heart of it there are lessons every salesperson should know. (Guest Post)

For today’s post, I chose the following scene from the movie ‘Boiler Room’

The Movie tells the story of a 19-year-old named Seth who makes a nice income running an illegal casino in his apartment. His dad, a judge, finds out about it and raises holy hell. So the kid gets a daytime job as a broker with a Long Island, N.Y., bucket shop that sells worthless or dubious stock with high-pressure telephone tactics.

On this scene, Ben Affleck is marching into the room and lectures the team about their results.
The following sentence is an awesome example for a great salesman approach to cold calling: “There is no such thing as a no-sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you a reason he can’t. Either way, a sale is made; the only question is who is gonna close? You or him?”

The rise of social networks changed all our lives forever. The ability of an individual to share content with millions of people at once seemed like science fiction not long ago.

Social networks penetrated every aspect of our lives, allowing us to share, discuss and connect with large groups of people. It begun with sharing with friends and friends of friends and then grew into sharing and engaging with specific circles.

The ability to connect with strangers of common interest was born with the emergence of groups within social networks. It allowed for individuals to easily consult with experts and thought leaders, create open and informative discussions and many more valuable abilities.

When zooming in on business or sales, LinkedIn groups are a very powerful tool. A single LinkedIn group can help you:
1. Build your entire business,
2. Market a number of products and services,
3. Sell out your paid events,
4. Become thought leader in your niche
And much more..

As a sales team leader, you can only be as effective as your sales team. To achieve greatness you must learn how to motivate every member of your team. Your brand will only grow if you have an inspired team that feels appreciated and a part of the company’s overall goal.
Top entrepreneurs identified these 13 ways to help inspire your sales team to success:(Guest post)Continue reading 13 Easy Things You Can Do To Motivate Your Sales Team